6 Ways to Use Twitter to Land Your Next Job

Originally Written for Alcamine.com

6 Ways to Use Twitter to Land Your Next Job

Technology has changed many of the ways we do things; dating, finding a new restaurant to enjoy, or learning something new. We use it to make our everyday lives easier, remain connected, and easily gain knowledge. Technology can also help us greatly when pursuing our next job or career path.

Twitter is a great tool that can be used to our advantage to learn about opportunities and score them.

Here are six ways to use Twitter to land your next job:

1) Create a professional account. It’s likely that when you were creating your Twitter account all those years ago, creating it for professional purposes was the last thing on your mind. You should take the time to draw a fine line between personal and professional when using social media to pursue a job. Start fresh and create a new Twitter account that includes your full name, a written out job title, or a phrase that encompasses the job you are trying to get in your bio section. Don’t be too wordy or smart. Select a clean and professional photo to seal the deal. Done- you now have a professional Twitter account.

2) Link your professional profile, by-page, or website. Make sure to select the one that will best represent your work and allow people to quickly understand what it is you’re good at. Job searchers want an easy, quick way to learn more about your professional accomplishments. If you’re a writer, this might be a professional portfolio. If you’re a developer, this might be a page full of your past work. If you’re a professional photographer, this might be a website full of beautiful photos. Don’t have a portfolio or page that best represents you? Create one. That hour of your time might be the difference between landing your dream job or being passed over. It also cuts out the time you might spend marketing yourself and is an easy reference list for you to pass over if someone asks for it- which they will if they are looking to hire you.

3) Start following the people in the industry you are trying to break into. This is the one great advantage of Twitter; you aren’t just limited to following the business or industry, you can follow the people that run it. This might mean following the CEO, the HR lead, and other department heads. You can learn more about them, scroll through their Twitter activity, and gain some great insider information. It also helps others to find you if you are following the right people in the industry, furthering your possibility of connections. Nothing makes an employer happier than seeing a potential candidate who is engaged, involved, and knowledgeable.

4) Use hashtags to your advantage. The quickest way to find people within your industry or desired industry is to follow the hashtags. Hashtags like #100daysofcode, #programming, and #dev can pull a whole list of industry insiders who would be perfect to follow, learn from, or network within the website building and programming industry. Looking to increase your following? Drop a comment on one of their posts or in the community chain, introducing yourself and including your own hashtag to be pulled into the chain. This is a sure way to find others to follow and encourage them to follow you. Twitter also has an entire slew of job hashtags to help rope you into the right chains; #jobsearch, #hireme, #jobmarket, #resume, or #jobtips. The list goes on and on.

5) Create useful content. Everyone loves a know-it-all. Especially one who actually knows what they are talking about. Write and post useful content that will help others. Direct them to past content you have developed or written. The best way to get someone's attention is to provide them with something that will benefit them. It’s a great, organic way to grow your following and perhaps catch the eye of someone with hiring powers. Afraid you don’t have anything original to say? Comment on other people's posts about what you learned from them, or an experience you had working with something similar that they are sharing about. It doesn’t matter precisely how you join the conversation, so long as you get involved.

6) When it comes to getting a job, it’s all about who you know. Building your network is one of the best ways to market yourself and make connections in the name of future opportunities. Find an industry or business you would love to work with/for. Follow someone within the business, and take a moment to slide into their direct messenger via Twitter. Comment about their latest post and what about it you find intriguing. Ask them if they wouldn’t mind sharing a little bit about their industry and how they got involved. Let them know you’re interested in working for a company just like this one and if they can offer any advice. Keep in mind, (most) people love to talk about themselves, and (most) love to help others find similar success to what they have found. Your message will, in all likelihood, initiate a conversation that will allow you to also let them know you’re currently in the job market. Maybe they can refer you. Maybe they know about a job opening that seems like a pretty good fit for you. Take a chance and slide into that DM. The chances of them responding to you via Twitter are far higher than replying to an email or going through the slush pile of resumes for a job opportunity listed on Indeed. And if they don’t respond- don’t sweat it. There are over 330 million users on Twitter, chances are you’ll find someone that will happily respond to you.

Just entering the job search, or been buried in it for the last few months? Feeling overwhelmed by the massive amount of pointless emails that flood your inbox everyday marketing potential job ‘fits’ for you? Alcamine can help! Alcamine helps keep your personal email personal, pulls job opportunities into one inbox, and ranks them based on your selected preferences, making your job search cleaner, easier, and, dare we say it, successful.